Zapata County, Texas: Natural Disaster Risk and History
Zapata County, Texas has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 31.4 out of 100, higher than about 31% of US counties, with cold waves, wildfires and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $5.5 million a year in expected losses.
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Zapata County since 1967, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4586-TX (Severe Winter Storms, declared 19 February 2021). NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Zapata County from 1950 to 2025.
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Population 13,865 Buildings worth $2.8 billion Area 1,069 sq mi Risk rank in Texas 166 of 254 FIPS 48505
All 18 hazards, highest risk first
FEMA National Risk Index| Hazard | Risk rating | Score | Expected loss a year | How often | Events in record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cold wave | Relatively High | 89.2 | $3.5 million | about 2.2 a year | 42 |
| Wildfire | Relatively Low | 70.9 | $98,888 | about once every 287 years | — |
| Hurricane | Relatively Low | 66.0 | $211,681 | about once every 14 years | 27 |
| Heat wave | Relatively Low | 42.2 | $138,274 | about 5 a year | 94 |
| Hail | Relatively Low | 37.3 | $87,668 | about once every 1.8 years | 21 |
| Drought | Relatively Low | 33.4 | $19,321 | about 8 a year | 2,023 |
| Inland flooding | Very Low | 19.9 | $1.3 million | about 1.1 a year | 32 |
| Earthquake | Very Low | 18.4 | $13,180 | rarer than once in 1,000 years | — |
| Winter weather | Very Low | 15.8 | $7,079 | about once every 1.5 years | 13 |
| Tornado | Very Low | 14.7 | $74,719 | about once every 21 years | 5 |
| Landslide | Very Low | 14.1 | $30 | about once every 11 years | — |
| Ice storm | Very Low | 6.2 | $1,601 | about once every 67 years | 0 |
| Lightning | Very Low | 5.3 | $9,196 | about 35 a year | 37,768 strikes |
| Strong wind | Very Low | 4.5 | $16,703 | about once every 3.8 years | 11 |
| Avalanche | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Coastal flooding | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Tsunami | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
| Volcanic activity | Not Applicable | — | — | — | — |
Score: FEMA's percentile among US counties that face the hazard (higher = more risk). Expected loss: FEMA's modelled average yearly loss to buildings, people (as a statistical value) and crops. How often: FEMA's annualised frequency of the hazard in the county; for some hazards it counts event-days, so it is a rough guide, not a forecast. "Not Applicable" means FEMA does not model that hazard here.
Federal disaster declarations 13
Most common: Hurricane 7, Fire 3, Severe Ice Storm 2, Severe Storm 1.
| Decade | Declarations | Incident types |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1 | Hurricane |
| 1990s | 1 | Severe Storm |
| 2000s | 6 | Fire ×3, Hurricane ×3 |
| 2010s | 2 | Hurricane ×2 |
| 2020s | 3 | Severe Ice Storm ×2, Hurricane |
The last 10
Widest declarations that included Zapata County
- Severe Winter Storms (2021, DR-4586-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
- Severe Winter Storm (2021, EM-3554-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
- Extreme Wildfire Threat (2006, DR-1624-TX): 254 Texas counties designated.
Named storms in its declarations: Hurricane Hanna (2020), Hurricane Alex (2010), Tropical Storm Alex (2010), Hurricane Rita (2005), Hurricane Katrina (2005), Tropical Storm Charley (1998), Hurricane Beulah (1967).
Not counted above: 2 COVID-19 ("Biological") declarations — in 2020 every US county was included. Texas also had 101 statewide declarations with no county list.
Tornado record since 1950 5
| Tornadoes touching the county | 5 |
|---|---|
| Strongest-rated | (E)F2 ×3 |
| Peak month | May (3) |
| Deadliest | 23 May 1970, F2, 4.5 mi path, 0 killed, 20 injured |
| Longest path | 23 May 1970, F2, 4.5 mi path, 0 killed, 20 injured |
| Most recent | 20 Jul 2005, F0, 0.1 mi path |
| Deaths / injuries on those paths | 0 / 40 |
| Rating | (E)F0 | (E)F1 | (E)F2 | (E)F3 | (E)F4 | (E)F5 | Unrated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Decade | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Count | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Deaths and injuries are for each tornado's whole path, which can run beyond this county. F-scale ratings before February 2007, Enhanced Fujita (EF) after.
How Zapata County compares with its 5 nearest counties
| County | Distance | Overall risk | Score | Top hazard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zapata County (this page) | — | Very Low | 31.4 | Cold wave |
| Jim Hogg County | 47 km | Relatively Low | 45.5 | Cold wave |
| Starr County | 65 km | Relatively Moderate | 84.8 | Cold wave |
| Webb County | 86 km | Relatively Moderate | 89.2 | Heat wave |
| Brooks County | 94 km | Relatively Low | 60.8 | Cold wave |
| Duval County | 100 km | Relatively Low | 54.4 | Cold wave |
Nearest by distance between county centres. Every county in Texas, ranked.
Vulnerability and resilience
| Social vulnerability | Very High 96.8 |
|---|---|
| Community resilience | Very Low 0.5 |
| Community risk factor | 1.93 |
| Expected annual loss, all hazards | $5.5 million |
FEMA scales expected losses up where social vulnerability is high (people who may find it harder to prepare, evacuate or recover) and down where community resilience is high. A factor above 1 raises the risk score. For social vulnerability a high rating is worse; for resilience a high rating is better.
Prepare for Zapata County's main hazards
- Right now: National Weather Service alerts for Texas · all official warnings on Global Incident Tracker.
- Cold wave: Carbon monoxide in winter · Power outages now
- Wildfire: US wildfires now · Wildfire smoke: what protects you
- Hurricane: Is there a hurricane now? · Cyclone preparation
- Your property's flood zone: FEMA Flood Map Service Center ↗ — this page cannot tell you that.
- Official preparedness guidance: Ready.gov ↗ and your county emergency management office.
What this page shows, and what it misses
FEMA's National Risk Index rates a whole county against every other US county; it is a planning-level estimate for nationwide comparison, not a flood-zone map and not a substitute for a local risk assessment or the risk to one home. Declarations are presidential disaster, emergency and fire management declarations that named this county; state declarations and SBA or USDA designations are not included. Tornadoes are counted when the county is one of up to four listed on the track; 670 tornadoes that crossed a state line carry no county list in NOAA's file and are left out.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Risk Index Dataset: National Risk Index Counties - v1.20.0 (December 2025). Retrieved from https://services.arcgis.com/XG15cJAlne2vxtgt/ArcGIS/rest/services/National_Risk_Index_Counties/FeatureServer/0/query on November 2, 2026, 1:20 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), OpenFEMA Dataset: Disaster Declarations Summaries - v2, retrieved from https://www.fema.gov/api/open/v2/DisasterDeclarationsSummaries on November 2, 2026, 1:21 PM EST. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Tornado records: NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center, Severe Weather Database, tornadoes 1950–2025 (https://www.spc.noaa.gov/wcm/data/1950-2025_actual_tornadoes.csv, downloaded 2 November 2026). Public domain; not endorsed by NOAA. Compiled by Global Incident Tracker.
Questions about Zapata County
What natural disasters is Zapata County, Texas most at risk from?
Zapata County, Texas has a Very Low natural-hazard risk rating in FEMA's National Risk Index (v1.20, December 2025): a score of 31.4 out of 100, higher than about 31% of US counties, with cold waves, wildfires and hurricanes scoring highest of its 18 hazards and $5.5 million a year in expected losses.
How many federal disaster declarations has Zapata County had?
OpenFEMA lists 13 federal disaster declarations that included Zapata County since 1967, not counting 2 for COVID-19; the latest is DR-4586-TX (Severe Winter Storms, declared 19 February 2021). Another 101 Texas declarations were made statewide without a county list.
How many tornadoes have hit Zapata County?
NOAA's Storm Prediction Center recorded 5 tornadoes touching Zapata County from 1950 to 2025. The deadliest: 23 May 1970, F2, 4.5 mi path, 0 killed, 20 injured (deaths and injuries are for the whole path).
Is the National Risk Index a flood zone map?
No. The National Risk Index is a planning-level estimate for a whole county, built for nationwide comparison. It does not tell you the flood zone or the risk of a single property: for that, look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) and ask your local floodplain manager.